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5 New glass doors offer increased visibil- ity into this gallery and invite a glimpse into the teaching activities of the col- lege. Locally made cabinets are attrac- tive and functional providing a much improved convenient display for sculp- ture and other objects. This together with more usable wall space supports increased use by the academic com- munity. Now as with other galleries throughout the museum the Teach- ing Gallery features labels explaining the function of the space and we have added temporary identiers for classes using the works on view. On any given day you may nd Chinese paintings alongside prints by Joan Mitchell and early 20th-century Ashcan artists and while these pieces have no relationship to one another they all tie into teaching and learning at Smith. These changes are part of our larger effort to help students and visitors de- velop a relationship with specic works of art and the collection in general. The museums new Talk Back Art in Con- versation spaceconceptualized and overseen by the museums Education departmentis one more way we are working to promote engagement and interaction. This newly dened area at the heart of the lower level features a selected work of art accompanied by a question inviting people of all ages to post a response on the adjacent wall. In many ways and through a variety of educational programs we encourage conversation about art this is a way to encourage conversation with the art itself. The central location is ideal for both formal and informal gatherings and practical ooring in this area lends itself to art-making activities as well. ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS OF THE REDESIGN is the cre- ation of the Carol T. Christ Asian Art Gal- lery fullling a vision to expand SCMAs collection in support of Smiths expand- ing global curriculum. THE ART OF LEARNING Its no surprise that the museum is a popular resource for arts and humanities students at Smith but less known are the many ways we serve other academic departments at the college. Throughout the year SCMA staff work closely with faculty across disciplines to create context perspective excitement and learning op- portunities through art. Two examples Sociology 327 Global Migration in the 21st Century taught by Payal Banerjee assistant professor of sociology looked at work related to theories of migration poli- cies shaping migration patterns and im- migrant identities. Core themes of border crossing transnationalism gender race and class were explored through works including La Bestias Guide to the Birth of the Cool by Enrique Chagoya the class also examined works by Dorothea Lange Jacob Lawrence Ana Mendieta Colectivo Cordyceps Munio Takahashi Makuuchi and Wu Tien-Chang. Computer Science 352 an upper level seminar worked on a project focused on distributed processing and used cloud computing to create a collage of about 3 million photos from Wikipedia to graphi- cally illustrate the number of times photos were being accessed by users. To inform their work class members studied the mu- seums collection and the spaces where it is stored and displayed to experience vari- ous ways that collections of images could be organized or aesthetically grouped. Students compared the impact of different visual choices from storage where works are arranged mostly by size and shape for the most efcient use of space to the galleries where works are displayed with much more curatorial intention to convey a specic interpretation or meaning to collages and photomontages in which artists organized images or shapes within a single frame. left to right Carol T. Christ Asian Art Gallery Talk Back Art in Conversation space Carol Christ gallery installation Winslow Teaching Gallery